By virtue of having won three games in their first round series, the Sultanes de Monterrey, the regular season champs in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol’s Zona Norte, advanced to the second round despite losing the series to the sixth-place Charros de Jalisco.
It’s an odd quirk of the LMB’s playoff format, where six teams in each division make the playoffs, but four advance to the second round. If eight teams made the playoffs, there’d be some less-than-great teams getting into the postseason, so the league split the baby, so to speak. With eight teams from each division in the postseason, they’d have teams well below .500 in the playoffs, but with six, a series loser has to advance to the second round.
So here come the Sultanes, who won three games and held the tiebreaker by winning the division. The thing is, they’re a good team, and so are the Charros, who, by virtue of beating the No. 1 seed, now get to face the lowest remaining seed in the Zona Norte, the Algodoneros de Union Laguna, who beat the Toros de Tijuana in six games.
With the series loss, the Sultanes did make their road to the Serie del Rey, the LMB’s title series, more difficult. They’ll face the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos, who finished fourth in the regular season, only 4 1/2 games back of first place.
“It was a very difficult series, but we managed to move forward, not in the way we would have wanted. I think this team should have won the series, it wasn’t to enter the way we entered, but we’re already here. The rules are stipulated and entering in first place was what allowed us to be here,” Sultanes manager Roberto Kelly said in a team-issued statement.
After coughing up the first three games of the series to the Charros, Kelly’s club knows they have to have a strong start to the series against Laredo.
“They have always been a very difficult opponent over the years and this year is no exception. We’ve had extremely tight and intense games and I don’t expect anything different in this zone series. I anticipate a long series,” he said.
The Tecos come in having defeated the Algodoneros in seven games, with Junior Guerra having thrown eight innings as the starter in game seven, getting Dos Laredos through to the next round and essentially stealing the top seed for the second round despite having heavily relied on the bullpen.
For the Sultanes, Kelly will need better from his starters, who had a bad series in the first round, with former Major Leaguers Justus Sheffield posting an 8.10 ERA and Manny Banuelos having an 8.00 ERA in two starts each, while Nolan Kingham, who did earn a win, having a 6.10 ERA in the first round.
And he’ll also need the fan support.
“I ask the fans to continue to support us. We know things didn’t go very well in our last series, but we’ll try to improve. Our only objective is to lift the championship,” said Kelly in the team release. “We know the responsibility we have with this organization and with the fans. We will go out looking for that only objective: to be champions.”
There is a precedent for a first-round loser going all the way. In 2023, the Pericos de Puebla lost their first round series to El Aguila de Veracruz four games to three before beating the Diablos Rojos del Mexico four games to two, the Leones de Yucatan four games to one, and the Algodoneros four games to two to take the Serie del Rey.
Game one is Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. EDT at Uni-Trade Stadium in Laredo, Texas, with Nolan Kingham starting for Monterrey against Nate Antone for Dos Laredos.
Charros de Jalisco vs. Algodoneros de Union Laguna – The fourth- and fifth-place teams from the regular season will meet in the second round, but the game plan for the Benji Gil and the Charros needs to be similar to the first round.
If Jalisco, who scored the most runs in the Zona Norte in the regular season, can get decent pitching, as they did in the first round, they should win the series. If their pitching is weak, however, the series will likely be a toss-up. The Charros scored the most runs, yes, and they also allowed the fourth-most runs in the Zona Norte, with the three teams who allowed more, Saltillo, Durango, and Aguascalientes, finishing eighth, ninth, and 10th, respectively.
They’ll start Zac Grotz against Union Laguna’s Travis Lakins Sr. in game one at 9:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday.
Diablos Rojos del Mexico vs. Leones de Yucatan – The Diablos Rojos enter the second round having cruised to a sweep of the Leones de Yucatan in the first round, and drew the Pericos de Puebla, who were the best first-round loser, having fallen four games to three to Campeche.
“Our team is playing very well, pitching well, playing good defense and hitting in a timely manner,” Diablos manager Lorenzo Bundy said in a team-issued release. “We are on a path to reach the final, and on that path, we first met the Lions and our objective was to get them out of the way, and now we have the Pericos, a good team.”
The Diablos will start Brooks Hall (1-0, 3.18 ERA) in game one against Puebla’s Vladimir Gutierrez (1-1, 5.40 ERA) tonight at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu at 9 p.m. EDT.
Piratas de Campeche at Guerreros de Oaxaca – The Piratas topped the Pericos in game seven to advance, while the Guerreros de Oaxaca swept El Aguila de Veracruz to make the second round.
The Guerreros have the second best offense in the Zona Sur, while the Piratas had the best defense and pitching, allowing just 485 runs in 92 regular season games.
Domingo Acevedo starts game one for Campeche against veteran Radhames Liz for Oaxaca when the series begins Wednesday night at 9 p.m. EDT in Oaxaca.
Liga Mexicana de Beisbol Second Round Playoff Schedule
All Times Eastern Daylight Time
* – If Necessary
Wednesday, August 20
8:30 p.m. – Sultanes de Monterrey at Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos – Game 1
9 p.m. – Pericos de Puebla at Diablos Rojos del Mexico – Game 1
9 p.m. – Piratas de Campeche at Guerreros de Oaxaca – Game 1
9:30 p.m. – Charros de Jalisco at Algodoneros de Union Laguna – Game 1
Thursday, August 21
9 p.m. – Sultanes de Monterrey at Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos – Game 2
9 p.m. – Pericos de Puebla at Diablos Rojos del Mexico – Game 2
9 p.m. – Piratas de Campeche at Guerreros de Oaxaca – Game 2
9:30 p.m. – Charros de Jalisco at Algodoneros de Union Laguna – Game 2
Saturday, August 23
6 p.m. – Diablos Rojos del Mexico at Pericos de Puebla – Game 3
8 p.m. – Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos at Sultanes de Monterrey – Game 3
8 p.m. – Guerreros de Oaxaca at Piratas de Campeche – Game 3
8 p.m. – Algodoneros de Union Laguna at Charros de Jalisco – Game 3
Sunday, August 24
4 p.m. – Diablos Rojos del Mexico at Pericos de Puebla – Game 4
8 p.m. – Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos at Sultanes de Monterrey – Game 4
7 p.m. – Algodoneros de Union Laguna at Charros de Jalisco – Game 4
TBD – Guerreros de Oaxaca at Piratas de Campeche – Game 4
Monday, August 25
9 p.m. – Diablos Rojos del Mexico at Pericos de Puebla – Game 5*
9:30 p.m. – Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos at Sultanes de Monterrey – Game 5*
9:30 p.m. – Algodoneros de Union Laguna at Charros de Jalisco – Game 5*
9:30 p.m. – Guerreros de Oaxaca at Piratas de Campeche – Game 5*
Wednesday, August 27
8:30 p.m. – Sultanes de Monterrey at Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos – Game 6*
9 p.m. – Pericos de Puebla at Diablos Rojos del Mexico – Game 6*
9 p.m. – Piratas de Campeche at Guerreros de Oaxaca – Game 6*
9:30 p.m. – Charros de Jalisco at Algodoneros de Union Laguna – Game 6*
Thursday, August 28
8:30 p.m. – Sultanes de Monterrey at Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos – Game 7*
9:30 p.m. – Charros de Jalisco at Algodoneros de Union Laguna – Game 7*
TBD – Pericos de Puebla at Diablos Rojos del Mexico – Game 7*
TBD – Piratas de Campeche at Guerreros de Oaxaca – Game 7*
Photo: Could the Sultanes de Monterrey become the second team to lose a playoff series but still win the Serie del Rey? (Photo courtesy of the Sultanes de Monterrey)
